2023.02.04/05
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Pastor Francis Chan
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
On the first Wednesday of every month, AYAYA will hold a prayer meeting in Room 200. In the meeting, brothers and sisters sing hymns together to worship God; give thanks to God for his protection, guidance, and provisions; pray and intercede for one another. Brothers and sisters who did not know each other in the AYAYA community can get to know each other in the prayer meeting and watch out for each other. In the past February prayer meeting, 26 brothers and sisters participated. From their sharing, we clearly see the glory of God. Among them, three sisters used “miracle” to describe their recent experience in God.
A sister testified on behalf of her husband. Because they want to apply for immigration, her husband needs to take an English language exam. The result of the first exam was not good, mainly because the oral English examiner had a strong accent, and her husband could not hear clearly and could not respond well. But he didn’t give up, and he didn’t complain. He continued to pray, trusting in God’s grace. In the second exam, he encountered an examiner who he believed to be from Hong Kong. Since the examiner spoke with a Hong Kong accent, her husband could understand and respond well. This time he got a very satisfactory result: from 5.5 points last time to 7 points this time. His score for applying for immigration was met. The sister described it as a “miracle” because only God could have provided an oral English examiner with a Hong Kong accent for her husband.
A sister passed the driving test on her first attempt. She described it as a “miracle”. She is a very nervous person, and she has no talent for driving a vehicle. She bit the bullet and took the driving test because of family needs. On the day of the test, she herself knew that she had made many mistakes. After the exam, the examiner told her about her mistakes one by one, but gave her a pass, nonetheless. She thanked God for providing her with an understanding and kind examiner.
The sister who testified used to work as a registered nurse in Hong Kong. Now in Canada, she hopes to continue to work as a nurse and has taken a nursing license course. In the process, she needs to pass many exams. Recently, the school prepared a mock exam for its students, which require them to take more than 4 hours to complete. Many of these questions are not easy to answer. Although the sister studied very hard, she had no confidence in passing the exam. She said that even experienced nurses could not be sure of the correct answers to some of the questions in the exam paper. Consequently, she could only make guesses for many answers. After the exam, she thought she could only get about 350 points, but in the end, she got 1,000 points. She said it was a “miracle” because it was impossible for her to achieve it herself. The results of this mock exam have greatly increased her confidence in eventually obtaining a nursing license.
From the three testimonies above, we can understand that brothers and sisters who have just arrived in Canada face many difficulties and challenges in life and work. At the same time, because they are willing to trust God, they also experience a lot of grace and provision. In the prayer meeting, not only did God receive the glory He deserved, brothers and sisters were also strengthened in their faith because of the testimonies they heard. Glory be to God!
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Francis Chan